Andy Holding is back with three tips for today's action.
15:30 Hereford
SUPASUNRISE (best price 9-2) can hardly be described as a winning machine (2-21), but he has run consistently well all winter and with one of his better speed figures coming over today’s C&D, the eight-year-old looks a must for the shortlist on his return visit.
Looking back at that race here back in December, he was the only one to offer any resistance to the well-backed winner, Rockinastorm, and with subsequent winner, Famoso, back in third, the form looks solid in the context of today’s affair.
Only beaten six lengths on his return to the Midland track two months later, his latest effort at Lingfield behind another subsequent winner, Galway Mahler, suggests he remains in good form and with some firms offering three place each-way terms, he looks set to fill one of those spots at the very least.
17:30 Southwell
MASTERCLASS (NAP) (best price 5-2) hasn’t won since last November but its worth pointing out two of his best efforts in defeat have come over today’s course and following another decent run at Lingfield last time out, David Simcock’s grey looks poised to strike.
Racing over today’s C&D for the first time two starts ago, the five-year-old was dropped out by design with a view to arriving on the scene late but as is often the case here, those tactics aren’t always the wisest and despite running on strongly inside the final furlong, he couldn’t quite peg back track specialist, Jeans Maite.
With the greatest respect to today’s field, there doesn’t appear to be a Jeans Maite in the ranks and with Apache Star to ain at towards the nearside rail, he can track his main rival through and capture the prize late on.
17:45 Thirsk
As we all know and have seen via the results so far this season, predicting the outcome of some of this type of races is akin to nailing a blancmange to the ceiling but pessimism aside, the overall profile of EY UP ITS JAZZ (best price 7-1) is such that he is worth breaking rank and investing a small interest in at a place where his results speak for itself.
One of main attributes is he tends to go well fresh and at this time of year and following a promising start to last campaign, he completed a quick double with a victory over today’s C&D under similarly testing conditions.
A creditable runner-up when returning to the Yorkshire venue on his final outing of the season, it makes perfect sense to start his term off at a track that suits his eye and with his wide draw likely to be a help rather than a hinderance, the five-year-old makes plenty of appeal as a solid each-way conveyance.
